Excerpt from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief:

Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind
whenever we came to Montauk-my father. Moms eyes went all misty. I figured
she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing
them. "He was kind, Percy, she said.
"Tall, handsome, and powerful. But
gentle, too. You have his black hair, you
know, and his green eyes." Mom fished a
blue jellybean out of her candy bag. "I
wish he could see you, Percy. He would
be so proud." I wondered how she could
say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+
report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.
p. 94
Question: What theme do you think Rick Riordan is trying to portray in this
excerpt from the book? How you do know?

Excerpt from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief:

The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview
mirror. Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from
him and jerked it to the left. Everybody howled
as they were thrown to the right, and I heard
what I hoped was the sound of three Furies
smashing against the windows. "Hey!" the
driver yelled. "Hey-whoa!" We wrestled for the
wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the
tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us. We careened out of the Lincoln
Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars
plowed aside like bowling pins.
Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen
traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where
you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There
were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be
veering toward the river. Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.
p. 170-171

Question: What theme do you think Rick Riordan is trying to portray in this excerpt from
the book? How you do know?

Excerpt from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief:

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us
what this picture represents?" I looked
at the carving, and felt a flush of
relief, because I actually recognized
it. "That's Kronos eating his kids,
right?" "Yes," Mr. Brunner said,
obviously not satisfied. "And he did
this because ..." "Well..." I racked my
brain to remember. "Kronos was the
king god, and-" God?" Mr. Brunner asked. "Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he
didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his
wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus
grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"
"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. "-and so there was this big fight between
the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."
p.6
Question: What theme do you think Rick Riordan is trying to portray in this
excerpt from the book? How you do know?